Vivo V5 Plus First Impressions

Vivo launched its V5 smartphone in November last year, and at the time, the company also unveiled another model called Vivo V5 Plus. While the Chinese company didn't share many details about the Plus model of the device right away, it has now officially launched the smartphone in India. The Vivo V5 Plus has been priced at Rs. 27,980 and will be available to buy via both online and offline retailers from February 1.

Much like other recent smartphones from Vivo, the highlight feature of V5 Plus is its front camera. This time around, the company is offering a unique dual-camera setup aimed specifically at selfie-lovers. We were provided with early access to a test unit before its official launch and here are our Vivo V5 Plus first impressions.

Vivo V5 Plus Design and Display

When you hold the Vivo V5 Plus in your hand, the first thing you will notice about it is that it borrows some of its design elements from the iPhone 7, specifically the antenna lines. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, the Vivo V5 Plus' build quality is good, and it feels premium. The thin frame makes it easy to hold even with one hand. The smartphone measures 152.8x74.00x7.26mm and weighs 158.6g.

The Vivo V5 Plus rear camera is located in the top-left corner of the rear, while the power button and volume rocker are conveniently located on the right. The Vivo V5 Plus has a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button. In our time with the device, we found the fingerprint sensor to be extremely responsive as well as accurate. There is a speaker grille at the bottom, along with a Micro-USB port and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The Vivo V5 Plus sports a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920-pixel) display. In our time with the device, we found the quality of the display to be satisfactory, although colours were noticeably oversaturated.

Vivo V5 Plus Camera

The highlight feature of Vivo V5 Plus is its dual front cameras (20-megapixel + 8-megapixel sensors). The 20-megapixel camera uses a Sony IMX376 1/2.78-inch sensor and has an f/2.0 aperture and 5P lens system, while the 8-megapixel camera captures depth-of-field information.

This combination allows users to take lick selfies with a 'bokeh' effect, which was recently made popular by the iPhone 7 Plus (albeit with its rear cameras). Users can even adjust the area of focus for the effect after a shot is taken. We found the Vivo V5 Plus front camera setup to be extremely capable, capturing a lot of detail. However, the face beautification and the HDR modes hardly add any quality to photos.

As for the rear, the Vivo V5 Plus has a 16-megapixel camera with an LED flash. We found the quality of pictures taken with the rear camera to be decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. Notably, we found that performance in dimly lit conditions to be much less impressive. However, due to our limited time with the device, we will withhold our final opinion till we have the chance to conduct an in-depth Vivo V5 Plus review.

Tap to see full-sized Vivo V5 Plus camera samples

Vivo V5 Plus Software

The Vivo V5 Plus runs Funtouch OS 3.0 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It is powered by a 2.0GHz octa-core Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with 4GB of RAM. Just like some of this phone's hardware design elements, even its UI takes some cues from the iPhone. In our limited time with the V5 Plus, we didn't face any performance issues or lag, including the transition animations which were smooth.

The Vivo V5 Plus has 64GB of storage. It also has a 3055mAh battery and supports fast charging. In terms of connectivity, the V5 Plus offers 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. Even though the Vivo V5 Plus' speaker volume gets quite loud, we didn't find the sound quality on the smartphone to be all that impressive.

The Vivo V5 Plus will only be available in gold in India. In its price category, it will be competing against the likes of the OnePlus 3T and Moto Z Play. Considering that the Vivo V5 Plus has a relatively less capable processor than the OnePlus 3T and lacks the unique mods that the Moto Z Play can use, it is currently hard to say whether this smartphone's unique front camera setup will be able to tempt customers. For further updates and our full Vivo V5 Plus review, stay tuned to Gadgets 360.

Disclosure: The phone was showcased at a launch event in Jodhpur. The correspondent's hotel and flights for the event were sponsored by Vivo.